The Real Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things by Paula Byrne

Title: The Real Jane Austen:  A Life in Small Things
Author: Paula Byrne
Read by: Kate Reading
Publisher: HarperAudio
Length: 13 hours and 31 minutes
Source: MP3 Audio through Wisconsin Public Library Consortium – Overdrive on my Droid

The Real Jane Austen:  A Life in Small Things is one of the best biographies of Jane Austen that I have ever read.  Instead of a biographical narrative of the slight details we know of Austen’s life from her birth, various moves, and death, Paula Byrne instead explores themes from Austen’s life.  She takes an object in Austen’s life and details the latest research on this object or topic and how it relates to Austen’s novels.  It was wonderful.  It gave such good background that I had never heard before on Austen.  It also really showed that instead of being the sheltered woman that never really got out much, that Austen was a well-traveled woman for her time with a naughty sense of humor.  She also had extensive family beyond her immediate family that helped to influence her work.

I listened to an MP3 Audio version of this book through the library and it was a wonderful book to listen to while I worked on chores.  I’ve listened to books narrated by Kate Reading before and she does an excellent job and is a joy to listen too.  Another wonderful aspect of this book is that while I slowly listened to it, I also read other Austen inspired novels.  This book gave me a great understanding of different aspects of Austen’s novels that I didn’t have before.  I would recommend it as a “must-read” for anyone that loves Austen, and also a book of interest for anyone that would like to learn more about the history of early nineteenth century England.